28 July 2011

Job Description
GIS and Access Database assistant to work under direct management with Geologists, Environmental Scientists and Engineers assisting in data analysis.

This position has a 6 month probationary period as a part time employee (32-36 hours/week). Full time and benefits may be discussed upon completion of this period.

Qualifications:
6 months to 1 year of experience in editing and designing ESRI personal geodatabases, spatial analysis and 3D. 1 year experience in data management using Microsoft Access, with integration to ArcGIS. A degree in Environmental Science or Engineering with a certificate in GIS is preferred.

Application Information:
Please submit your resume and cover letter to Sara Taylor at staylor@rouxinc.com. No phone calls please. The estimated start date is September 2011. Applications will be accepted through August 31st, 2011.

In a new essay online, Chuck Wolfe opens with a seemingly odd sentence: "Last week, while the Seattle City Council gave final approval to more street food vendors in public places, Borders Group Inc. began its liquidation of most remaining Borders bookstores, including locations in destination American downtowns." Huh?

But if you see the title, Assuring Sustainable Third Places in the City, you'll probably realize that he is worrying about the loss of what Oldenburg called Third Places. These are those places that aren't home (1st place) and aren't work (2nd place), but give people a (third) place to gather and interact in a neutral setting. Starbucks has been cited lately as the new place for the exchange of ideas, but in many places it was Borders or is a good local bookstore. But he raises a fascinating question, if these places are key to a healthy social life for our cities, should our cities be doing more to secure them as continuing venues for discussion and debate?

26 July 2011

Now that the humanities have discovered GIS, as reported in the paper of record, we can stop making things up about our past. Did General Lee have a better view at Gettysburg than we previously thought? Can you trust that eyewitness testmony from Auschwitz-Birkenau after you compared it with the 3d map of the camp during construction? Did witchcraft really spread like a disease in communities around Salem, MA?

21 July 2011

I feel like I have been hearing a lot about China this summer. One of my colleagues visited at the start of the summer. And the news stories I keep seeing make it seem more and more compelling. And now I stumble into these great photos of two major new parks in China:

Both are great examples from Landezine's master collection of searchable landscapes from around the world. And if their photos don't work for you, maybe you should try Slate's beautiful photos of China's horrible algae problem.

"WE ARE DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY - I mean our country itself, our land. This is a terrible thing to know, but it is not a reason for despair unless we decide to continue the destruction. If we decide to continue the destruction, that will not be because we have no other choice. This destruction is not necessary. It is not inevitable, except that by our submissiveness we make it so."

15 July 2011

Friend of the blog, Ken McCown, has published a fantastic photo essay called "Point of Astonishment" from New Zealand through Places Journal. The short introduction he offers raises an interesting comparison between California and New Zealand, but it isn't as fascinating as some of the photos.

Information access does not equal knowledge gained. Thanks to our information technology, the former is becoming relatively easy, while the latter continues to be difficult. It continues to take time. The power of reading, whether of print or online text, continues to lie in this power of time — time to digest words, time to read between the lines, time to reflect on ideas, and time to think beyond one’s self, one’s place, and one’s time in the pursuit of knowledge.

Is reading online intentionally changing us? Or should be intentionally changing to adjust to it? And what does it mean for an author or publisher trying to get out in front of those changes?

13 July 2011

According to The Record, the governor is moving the Office of Smart Growth and the State Planning Commission under the control of Lt Gov Kim Guadagno unless the legislature intervenes. It is being described by some critics as a power grab, and others as a way to help businesses get around those pesky planning rules and regulations (or both). Will non-profits have to take over the state plan?

It is amazing to see an interview with the President of ESRI in which he doesn't talk about GIS, cloud computing or new apps. Instead, the NY Times got him to open up about his management style, his willingness to do whatever is necessary, and the importance of hiring people with good writing skills.

Now that summer is here and the oppressive heat has set in, the floods of the spring are a distant memory. Well, for you maybe. But in several areas around the US there remain significant problems with flood waters. Where? Just check ESRI's High Water map to find out. (It looks like at least 15 states as of this posting)

And, since it is a dynamic map, we'll probably be connecting to it the next time Places and Spaces writes about flooding.

11 July 2011

The Star-Ledger reports that it finds that affordable housing rules in New Jersey are keeping sprawl from being worse than it already is: "It found that although it’s not a catch-all, court-ordered affordable housing efforts were effective in some areas, and sprawl would be significantly worse without them." It takes an interesting look at how towns appear to be over-zoning their land for commercial and industrial, which doesn't add a burden to local schools, but would create traffic nightmares if developers built these lands to their legal maximum density. But, phillyBurbs.com quotes the report about the flip side of the problem:

“By consuming practically all remaining residentially zoned land, large lot subdivisions are locking in a residential land-use pattern that excludes many New Jersey households that cannot afford a large-lot single-family home that ability to live near their jobs,” the report said.

"What led New Jersey to the Mount Laurel rulings was a very strong home rule approach to housing and planning. If you leave the choices to the towns themselves, they're going to zone to their advantage and there are other built-in biases that will drive large-lot zoning and other exclusionary measures," Hasse said.The release of the report came a week after Gov. Chris Christie submitted a plan to the state Legislature to abolish the state Council on Affordable Housing.

Does this mean that affordable housing rules are hurting affordable housing availability? Since no one seems to know where things stand with affordable housing in NJ right now, a report that offers a serious, nuanced description of the current situation will simultaneously be seen as a call for refining the parts that aren't working so well and for dismantling the whole requirement.

If you think this is obscure stuff about which no one cares, read some of the comments on the NJ.com link. Whether or not they understand the deeper issues, commenters clearly saw this as a topic worth writing about.

On a recent visit to see Phase II of the High Line, we were pleasantly surprised with a sight that one writer describes as a "psychedelic amusement park". Sponsored by Aol, Rainbow City is a temporary installation by the artists collective known as Friends With You. As if the High Line didn't get enough attention anyway, this installation at the food court helped get plenty of people to the new northernmost entrance to the High Line.

But you will have to wait to see the pictures of the High Line in another post.

Well, really, I suppose our US readership is down. But over this last weekend (a holiday weekend in the US) our international readership level surged to 49%. In contrast, during the Spring semester we were averaging about 38%.

Chicago is getting serious about planning for climate change. The NYTimes reports on their new plan, "Climate scientists have told city planners that based on current trends, Chicago will feel more like Baton Rouge than a Northern metropolis before the end of this century." All that without the benefit of boiled crawfish?

Lots of green roof projects (they are already a leader). And check out the diagram of the street of the future. It seems like it requires an equal mix of planning and design. (h/t Bognar)

Robert Snieckus was nominated by the Potomac Chapter in the Leadership/Management Category. Throughout his career, he has showcased the creative problem-solving acumen of landscape architects to the many multi-discipline professionals in the agencies in which he has worked. Be it gravel pit stabilization, a flood detention basin, or the USDA building on the National Mall, he has consistently introduced long-term, visionary aesthetic solutions. His creativity and enthusiasm are as astonishing as he is unique. Despite his administrative responsibilities, he still leads design teams in the execution of creative and sustainable solutions to very difficult land and water management problems all across the country. Perhaps the most challenging and rewarding was the landscape regeneration plan he implemented following the eruption of Mount St. Helens. His BLA is from Rutgers University.

05 July 2011

I don't know when it will be finished, but the NPS says they will be dedicating this year on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The new memorial in NYC will get more attention, but because of its unusual location, this one may turn out to be gratifying to visitors. (Mapped)

About the Author

An Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture in Rutgers’ School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. He also serves as Associate Director of the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis and Undergradaute Program Director for Environmental Planning and Design. As a graduate of Kentucky (BSLA), LSU (MLA) and Wisconsin (PhD), he has a passion for the critical role of state universities as a source for world-class research and education based on inquiry arousal but is too busy keeping up this award-winning blog. Dr. Tulloch can be reached at dtulloch[at]crssa.rutgers.edu

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